


Through the Veil, Beyond the Fade

by Heather Dursley (Keolah)



Category: Dragon Age: Origins, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Planescape, Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan
Genre: Crossover, Dimension Travel, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-31
Updated: 2013-05-17
Packaged: 2017-12-07 01:10:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/742355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keolah/pseuds/Heather%20Dursley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sigil, the City of Doors. People from different planes might come there, after stepping through a portal, whether by accident or intent. And there they might meet things they had never imagined.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. City of Doors

Sirius Black woke slowly, groaning. The last thing he could remember was fighting in the Department of Mysteries. What happened? A Stunning Spell from his damned crazy cousin, Bellatrix, had caught him off guard. How embarrassing. Now, where was he?

Blinking slowly, he realized that this didn't look like anyplace he was familiar with. A dim, filthy alleyway wound around like a snake through ramshackle buildings. He was laying underneath an overhanging wooden awning, and by Merlin's fuzzy beard, he was _sore_. Laying wherever he must have been dumped haphazardly on a stone floor was not very comfortable.

Sirius reached for his wand just to make sure it was still with him, and upon not finding it, did a thorough search of his possessions. Everything was gone. His wand, his money, the mirror that could communicate with the one he'd given to Harry, even his shoes! He supposed he should feel fortunate that at this rate, no one had bothered to steal the robes on his back as well.

Still, seriously, that wasn't a good sign. There was the Statute of Secrecy to worry about, if some Muggles had gotten their hands on his stuff. He could only hope that he'd somehow wound up in Knockturn Alley or someplace like that, rather than out in the Muggle world somewhere. Sirius had to chuckle at the thought of _hoping_ he'd wound up unconscious in Knockturn Alley, but it was better than the alternative. At least he was alive and unharmed, after all.

No help for it at the moment. Best to start with trying to figure out where he was and if there was any chance of getting his things back. He clambered to his feet and stepped out from under the awning. And, by chance, he happened to glance up.

Rather than there being merely sky above him, the landscape stretched and curved into a torus stretching in an arc overhead, a massive, sprawling city covering the entirety of its surface.

As he was gaping up at the sky, someone bumped into him from behind and brushed roughly past him. Sirius stumbled and caught himself, and turned to give them a sharp retort, but the words died in his throat when he saw just _what_ had run into him. It appeared to be a young man, at first glance, but little nubby goat-like horns stuck out from his forehead, and a long, tufted tail coiled out from under his tunic.

"Shut your bone-box, berk," the creature said, swishing his tail indignantly. "You Clueless?" He turned and strode off.

Okay, maybe the Statute of Secrecy was the least of his worries at the moment.

Sirius shook his head and walked out down the alley. He had no idea where he was and no way to contact anyone from here. But this was hardly the worst situation he'd ever been in. After all, there weren't any Dementors here. Maybe there wouldn't even be anyone that wanted to arrest him here, for that matter. Now wasn't that a pleasant thought?

Whatever this city was, it was full of unfamiliar beings Sirius had never seen before, in addition to those who appeared to be human or almost-human. A floating, angular humanoid with no mouth hovered off to the side, apparently reshaping a part of a building. A centaur-like being trotted by, but the lower body seemed to be not quite horse-like, and his head sported a rack of curved horns reminiscent of a ram.

"I know that look," said a woman leaning against a stone pillar casually. "Wide-eyed staring at everything. New to Sigil, I take it? Maybe even a prime?"

"Sigil's the name of this city?" Sirius asked. "Then yeah, I suppose you could say I'm new here. Not sure how I even got here, to be honest. I think I must have fallen through that magic doorway..."

"That would do it," she said with a nod. "There's lots of doors in and out of the Birdcage, but you can't always expect where and what they'll be, or what the key might be. That's why it's called the City of Doors. Anyway, I'm Liss, and I'm a tout. Don't suppose you've got any jink on you?"

Sirius debated on whether it would be a good idea to give his real name or not, then figured that wherever he was, the Ministry of Magic was _definitely_ the least of his concerns at the moment.

"The name's Sirius. And I don't know what a tout is. Or jink, for that matter."

Now he knew what it must feel like to be a Muggle-born thrust into the wizarding world for the first time. He'd always taken it a bit for granted, having grown up in a pureblood family, even if he didn't get along with them overly much all the time.

"A tout's a guide," Liss explained patiently. "I help out newcomers to the Cage for jink. And jink is money. Coins."

Sirius shook his head. "My pockets are empty. I was out cold when I fell through, I think, and whoever robbed me blind even took my shoes. Sorry."

Liss sighed. "I suppose I can give you a bit of advice for free, then. Maybe the easiest way for a body to scrounge up some jink when you've got nothing is to find deaders and sell them to the Dustmen. That'll at least keep you from starving and get you a kip for the night, and buy me my tout's fee. Just be careful you don't wind up in the Dead Book yourself."

"Who are the Dustmen?" Sirius asked.

Liss gestured over further down the street, where a group of men in gray robes were standing. "One of the factions in Sigil. Believe everyone's already dead. They run the Mortuary, and will pay some jink for any deaders you bring them."

Sirius didn't think that hauling corpses around sounded all that appealing. There had to be a better way to go about this. He hadn't been any better off when he'd just escaped from Azkaban, after all, but at least then he knew where to go and which way was up. He thanked Liss and wandered off to see what he could do.

Even if he didn't have his wand, at least he could still turn into a dog without it. There were benefits to being an Animagus, after all.

Prowling the grimy, twisting alleys of Sigil, he came upon a rat, and grabbed it with his teeth, settling in for a small snack. Perhaps not the best meal, but it was free, and it's not like he hadn't eaten rats before. And it was positively gratifying if he thought about that thrice-damned traitor, Peter, while doing it, too.

With something in his stomach, he moved on. He didn't go far before a large, vulture-like humanoid spotted him and headed toward him with a malicious glint in its eye. As if the giant bird saw him as nothing more than food.

Sirius turned his tail and raced the other way, trying to lose the demonic vulture in the winding alleyways. Spotting a doorway leading into a building, he darted inside and quickly changed back into human form once out of sight. The creature was looking for a dog, after all, and not a human. He couldn't be sure that it would leave him alone even as a human, but it couldn't hurt.

Sure enough, the vulture head craned inside the doorway and peered about, and upon not spotting its prey, moved on. Sirius leaned back against the wall and breathed a sigh of relief. Too close. He made a mention note that looking like an animal might not be such a good idea around here.

"Heh, you really gave that vrock the laugh, cutter," said a man's voice from the shadows. "Lucky for you that he wasn't interested in eating a human instead."

"And who might you be?" Sirius wondered.

The man stepped into the dim light. Human, at a glance -- if he was anything other than that, Sirius certainly couldn't tell. His slender body was covered in worn leather, with a couple of daggers and several pouches at his belt.

"Me?" said the stranger. "I'm just a body whose kip you've stumbled into."

"Sorry for not checking if the place was occupied before hiding from a -- vrock, was it?" Sirius said dryly. "I'll be sure to look out for 'Do Not Disturb' signs next time I'm running for my life."

The man threw back his head and laughed aloud. "You know what, cutter, I like you. So I'm not going to styx you for barging into my kip. Go on now, scarper." Still chuckling, he turned away as Sirius slunk out of the building again.

* * *

Morrigan sipped at her drink and leaned back in her chair, looking over the Burning Man Inn thoughtfully. With some amusement, she had to wonder how the people of her home plane would react to a place like this. Hmm, most likely they would refer to those devils over there in the corner as 'demons' and anger them to the point of being annihilated. Now that was an entertaining thought.

After things on Thedas had gone so wrong, now she mainly just wanted to see the multiverse. Surely every plane couldn't be so backward as the one she'd originated from. There were so many things to see, and at least here in Sigil, no one seemed inclined to kill her or deprive her of her freedom solely because she had been born with magic. Quite the contrary, it tended to engender fear and respect when people found out about it. That, Morrigan could appreciate.

A man approached her table, and Morrigan looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. He was a scruffy fellow with a dirty, tattered mage robe.

"And what might _you_ want?" Morrigan asked.

"Well, I was going to ask if you mind if I sit here, but perhaps I could do without your company after all."

Morrigan snorted softly. "Sit, then, if you must."

"Oh, are you going to be that gracious?" he said, although he did take a seat. "The name's Sirius Black, by the way."

"And you may call me Morrigan, if you wish. What brings you to my table, Sirius Black? I hardly think that I am the most interesting being in this establishment."

Sirius jerked a thumb over to another table. "That bloke over there, called himself a 'planeswalker', said you were also a new arrival from the Prime?"

Morrigan sighed. "Yes, 'tis true. Did he expect me to explain how everything works here to you?"

"No, no." Sirius shook his head. "He already answered all my questions himself. Still pretty confused, but I suppose I'm glad enough just to be alive still. No, mostly I was looking to chat with someone who can talk straight! I can't make head or tail of half the things the people around here say!"

"'Tis also true," Morrigan said with a chuckle. "I do not believe that this is a place I will wish to stay for long. Merely a stop on the journey to my next destination."

"Me, I'd like to find a way home," Sirius said. "I've got friends, a godson who needs me, a Dark Lord to take down. And here I am, stuck in the Outer Planes without any way to contact them, and I don't even have my wand. Bloody thieves."

"You use a wand?" Morrigan said, lips twitching with faint amusement.

"And you use a staff, I assume?" Sirius said, glancing over her shoulder at her own magical tool of choice.

"Very astute to have noticed that," Morrigan said dryly.

"I much prefer a wand, thanks," Sirius said. "They're lighter and easier to carry."

"Staves can be used as a bludgeon in a pinch," Morrigan said. "Particularly useful when someone needs to be hit upside the head for being an idiot."

Sirius snickered softly. "Still, I'd like it back, or at least some sort of replacement, although I had some things that _can't_ be replaced. I don't suppose you'd be willing to help?"

Morrigan shifted in her chair and looked him over appraisingly. The fellow was attractive enough, she supposed. A bit scruffy, although some might call that 'rugged'. And he was certainly less obnoxious than Alistair. Still, she wasn't sure why she should bother.

She sighed softly and said, "I'm not a charity. Don't expect me to help out of the goodness of my heart or any such thing like that."

"I wouldn't expect you to," Sirius said. "Look, if we can get back to my... home plane, I'm the head of a wealthy and powerful family there. I could probably arrange for you whatever you wanted. And if we can't manage to get back there... well, I'm still a skilled wizard. Would be good to have someone around who can watch your back, right?"

"Oh, very well," Morrigan said. "I don't know why I'm agreeing to this. But if you annoy me, I will drop you through a random portal to who-knows-where."


	2. Law of Threes

Moiraine stirred slowly and blinked at her surroundings. This place was filthy, and the ropes around her wrists were not a good sign. She wasn't certain what happened after she'd fallen through that stone archway ter'angreal with Lanfear. Someone must have captured her while she was unconscious and dragged her to this rundown shack, wherever this was. She'd been stripped bare of the dress she had been wearing, and the serpent ring that marked her as an Aes Sedai was missing.

Taking a deep breath, Moiraine embraced the True Source. Fortunate for her that they had not done anything to shield her or cut her off from the One Power -- and foolish for her would-be captors. A careful weave, and her bindings loosened and dropped to the floor. The Power felt a little strange, but she couldn't put her finger on precisely what, and dismissed it as being merely disoriented after her recent experiences and having been unconscious.

Did these fools realize what they were dealing with? She was an Aes Sedai! She had to think anyone working for the Dark One would have made better precautions, and not left her alone in a room with only flimsy ropes to keep her in place.

Before going anywhere, however, she did a quick look around, not wanting to confront her captors while naked if she could help it. The furniture in this bedroom looked like it was thrown haphazardly together without any skill or care, and looked like it was about to fall apart at a slight breeze. A dresser in one corner of the room contained some rags that might pass for clothing. Moiraine wrinkled her nose, wondering when they had been last washed, but it was better than nothing.

A thunderclap shook the building and reverberated through the air, seeming to originate from the next room. Keeping the One Power ready at hand, Moiraine cautiously opened the door. A dark-haired woman wearing positively shameful clothing threw lightning from her hands to strike down the men in this room. The battle was over before Moiraine could even sort out who was on which side.

"And who might you be?" said a man, stepped into view behind the woman. "You're not with these bandits too, are you?"

Ah, he must be the woman's Warder. Moiraine didn't recognize either of them offhand, but she was certain that there were many Aes Sedai that she didn't know very well. "I am not," Moiraine replied, and inclined her head politely toward them. "I appreciate the assistance, sister." She hadn't really needed it, but there was no need to antagonize her.

"We did not come here for you, and I am not your sister," the woman replied.

Moiraine gave a faint frown, and glanced at the woman's hands. No serpent ring adorned her fingers, although she might have been concealing it for whatever reason. "A wilder, then?" Moiraine ventured.

"That would not be inaccurate. You may call me Morrigan."

"And I'm Sirius," said the man, heading into the room to take a closer look around, searching for something. He went over to root through a chest at the far end of the room.

"My name is Moiraine," she said, watching them cautiously. Once she'd declared that she was not one of the bandits, they did not seem aggressive. Whoever and whatever they were, fighting her didn't seem to be what they had in mind. She allowed herself to relax by margins, and released the One Power.

"Aha, found it!" Sirius said, holding up a wooden stick triumphantly. "These were the ones who stole my stuff after all!" He gave the wand a swish, and sparks of golden light cascaded out from it.

A male channeler? Moiraine looked over at him in alarm, suddenly cautious again. That item he'd just retrieved must be an angreal that augmented his strength with the One Power, or perhaps a ter'angreal of some sort with unknown purpose. He wouldn't need to worry about exposing his abilities in front of the wilder, but he must not realized that she was an Aes Sedai, either, if he was flaunting his capacity for channeling so blatantly.

"Is any of this stuff yours?" Sirius asked, holding up her dress and a handful of jewelry. Her serpent ring was there, along with the blue pendant she wore on her forehead, in addition to some items she didn't recognize.

"Yes," Moiraine said, tensing up a little. Surely he would recognize it now and realize he was dealing with an Aes Sedai.

Sirius offered her the items without taking a second glance and showing no signs of recognition. "Here you go. We'll guard the door if you want to get changed."

Morrigan rolled her eyes impatiently, but said nothing.

AFter hesitating for a moment, Moiraine said, "Yes. Thank you. I will do that." She took her belongings and stepped back into the bedroom, closed the door, and stripped out of the filthy rags.

Moiraine wasn't sure what to make of them. Neither of them seemed to realize that she was an Aes Sedai. She should be dragging them both back to the White Tower, the wilder for proper training and the male channeler to be gentled so that his power would not be a danger to himself or anyone else. He would slowly go mad if left unchecked, and while she hadn't been around him long enough to know how much damage may have already been done, he certainly didn't seem worried about it.

Maybe the archway ter'angreal had deposited her somewhere far enough from the White Tower that the Aes Sedai rarely if ever got out this way. She would need to figure out where she'd wound up...

* * *

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Morrigan asked. "You have your..." she snickered, "... wand."

"I've got the wand, yeah," Sirius said. "But the mirror isn't here..."

He was glad to have a wand in hand again, but he'd feel a lot better if he knew his godson was alright. Had he not had the mirror on him when he'd fallen through the Veil? Or had these thieves already done something with it? Everything else seemed to be present and accounted for, at least, as well as some things that he could assume that had been taken from other people.

"The mirror you said should be able to contact your home?" Morrigan asked.

Sirius nodded. "I don't know whether it could from where we are or not, but I'd wanted to at least try." He snorted softly. "Should've known it wouldn't be that easy."

"Is it ever?" Morrigan said with a smirk.

"I dunno," Sirius said with a shrug. "Just once, I'd like to have things be simple. To be able to, you know, accomplish something without it all turning into a bloody mess."

Morrigan snorted. "I am certain that you would find that to be unbearably dull."

Sirius laughed softly. "Yeah, most likely. And I'd be peering around constantly wondering when the other shoe was going to drop. Like, oh, things are being too easy, what's going to go wrong now? That sort of thing."

The door to the side room opened to reveal the small, dark-haired woman they'd rescued, now wearing the blue dress, ring, and pendant on her forehead. "The two of you should come with me to the Tower for your own good."

"Oh, and here is the falling footwear," Morrigan said dryly.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Look, Moiraine. You're not where you think you are."

"It does not matter how far into the wilderness this shack is," Moiraine replied. "The Tower holds jurisdiction across all the lands over those who are capable of utilizing the Power."

"Even if we _were_ still in lands actually under the jurisdiction of your Tower, I have no desire to be locked up there like a slave," Morrigan replied.

"You need not remain there forever," Moiraine assured her. "Only until we determine that you are capable of using your abilities without harming yourself or anyone else by accident. Despite not having had formal training, you seem to be skilled enough. I doubt it would take very long for one such as you."

"Not formal classes, perhaps, but my mother taught me much of what I know," Morrigan said.

Moiraine nodded. "Yes, that would have been far preferable to stumbling through on your own. Still, you would benefit from actual training."

"I don't think you're listening," Sirius said. "We're not even on the same _world_ any longer. We are in Sigil, the City of Doors, in the Outer Planes."

Moiraine looked at him as though he were speaking madness. "I do not know whether gentling you will be capable of restoring your mind, but the corruption of the taint has already taken its toll upon you, I see."

"What _are_ you talking about?" Sirius wondered.

"Did you not realize that the part of the Power that you wield is tainted?" Moiraine said, shaking her head sadly.

"I shall not dispute the thought that Sirius may be mad," Morrigan said. "However, what he says is true. You have but to step outside and look to see for yourself. We are not in Thedas. We are in a realm beyond the Fade."

"I do not know where this Thedas may be," Moiraine said. "Nor what you may mean by the Fade. But very well. I am eager to be gone from this place. Let's go."

Sirius didn't care if they thought he was mental. After all the years he spent imprisoned in Azkaban, letting the Dementors pick at his mind, he would hardly be one to argue the idea. He stepped out of the building, the two women following behind him.

Moiraine stepped outside and stared up at the sky, her mouth dropping as she saw the alien architecture, the city itself curving into a ring overhead, with them standing on the inner edge.

"Where... Where are we?" Moiraine said uncertainly. "Is this some mirror world?"

"Sigil. Outer Planes," Sirius repeated. "What exactly that actually _means_ , well, beats me. Your guess is as good as mine."

Moiraine was silent for a long moment, staring at the city, at a passing dabus floating by and going about its rounds, at every strange thing in sight. "I have to get home," she finally murmured. "Rand needs me."

Sirius snorted softly. "Yeah, and I have to get home to help Harry."

"Am I the only one who is quite happy to never return to the world of my origin?" Morrigan asked. "However much you believe that the people in your homeworlds need you, I am certain that they are perfectly capable of getting by on their own."

Moiraine shook her head vehemently. "No, no... You don't understand. There was a prophecy--"

"Oh, a _prophecy_ , was it," Sirius drawled. "Oh, yes, I know all about those. They're bollocks. Never mean what you think they mean, anyway."

"If you really wish to return to your homeworld, then you must find the portal which brought you here," Morrigan said. "Best of luck with that. From what little you have said of it, it sounds entirely too much like my own place of origin, and I have no desire to visit there."

"Aw, come on, Morrigan, we can at least help her find it while trying to find mine," Sirius said.

"Who is 'we'?" Morrigan retorted. "Are you attempting to volunteer me for another thankless task again?"

"Er," Sirius said, shifting sheepishly. "Thanks for helping me find my wand, Morrigan. I really appreciate it."

"You are welcome," Morrigan said.

"We can't just leave her alone to fend for herself, though," Sirius said. "Sigil's a dangerous place."

"I can handle myself," Moiraine insisted. "I am an Aes Sedai."

"That means nothing to me," Morrigan said. "But if you can pull your own weight, company would not be unwelcome, I suppose. I do not know why I keep agreeing to these things." She sighed. "I believe that I spent entirely too much time in the company of the Grey Wardens. Always gathering up every stray they came across, and leaping to help everyone that aired a grievance within earshot."

"Thanks, Morrigan, you're a doll," Sirius said.

"I am a... toy made of cloth stuffed and sewn together made to resemble a person?" Morrigan said. "What a stunning compliment!"

"Heh, yeah, I'll just find some nice wooden buttons to replace your eyes with!" Sirius said.

Moiraine stared at them quietly, as though reassessing her thoughts that _both_ of them were clearly mad, then shook her head and sighed.


End file.
